How to Set Your Author Website Foundation by Guest BookWorks and from Rachel Thompson: “The independent author sphere is saturated with bad design and marketing—from unintentionally hilarious book covers to websites that look like refugees from the wreckage of Geocities—and you don’t want to add to it. But it goes much deeper than that. Design isn’t just how your website looks, but what it does (to very loosely paraphrase Steve Jobs), and you have to do more than just have something out there. It needs to be as remarkable as your book.”

Book Covers that Sell Your Book

Are you looking for a new book cover designer or premade cover? This will make your search easier! by Diana Urban: “Most authors and book marketers know that covers are important — and that it can be worth spending money for a professionally designed cover. After all, a book’s cover design has a proven impact on sales. But where can you go for help with your book cover design? We’re always on the lookout for useful resources, and we compiled this list for anyone seeking cover design help. We tried to include a variety of designers and premade cover options so you can find the best match for your genre and budget. While we haven’t vetted these specific resources ourselves, we hope they’re good places to start and make your search for cover design help less overwhelming.”

Find a Publicist

Choosing a Publicist: Ruling Out and Ruling In by Guest Barbara Linn Probst and from Jane Friedman’s blog: “Nowadays, many writers elect to hire their own publicists. That’s especially true for those who publish with small, independent, or nontraditional presses, since that may be the only way for them to secure media attention. It’s also true, however, for writers who take the traditional route. Unless you’re a major name, your publisher will have limited time and resources to devote to your book. If you want more exposure, you’ll have to make it happen yourself.”

Welcome again to the Indie Author Weekly Update. Today, you’ll enjoy a lengthy post on LinkedIn, blogging and book promotion. I hope you enjoy them.

Enjoy your weekend!

9 Painful Blog Formatting Mistakes That Will Ruin the Best Content by Gill Andrews: “Some people still write on their blogs as if it’s a book – long paragraphs stretching over miles of pixels challenging the concentration abilities of their readers. I mean, how funny, interesting and engaging should your blog post be for your readers to hang in there even after they feel like they need to use their index finger to follow the lines? And no, sprinkling some highlights here and there doesn’t make it better. This paragraph is too long. Does your brain hurt a bit? Shall I stop? Ok, I guess you get the point.”

19 Kickass Book Promotion Resources for Authors in 2019 by Penny Sansevieri: “There’s a lot of book marketing “stuff” out there for authors, and while much of it is fantastic – it’s a bit like drinking from a firehose if you’re trying to consume all of that information. This list is geared with a very specific eye to what is helpful, educational, and a time-saver for your book promotion. And if there’s a resource you use religiously that we’ve left off, please, please share it in the comments below and give them some love – that’s what this is all about.”

20 LinkedIn Tips to Help Boost Engagement by Brad Smith: “Whether you’re looking to grow your business profile or expand your personal network, LinkedIn is a great platform to use. When used well, LinkedIn can help you raise brand awareness and boost traffic to your business.”

Ways to Push Ourselves as Writers in 2019 by Elizabeth Craig: “I realized at some point last year that I wanted to write a new series. For one thing, it’s nice to have an additional revenue stream, especially if a series may appeal to a different pool of readers. For another, I wanted to make sure that I was still growing. I wanted to try something different to keep myself sharp.”

Welcome to the newest edition of the Indie Author Weekly Update. This week’s edition covers book reviews and author websites. Plus there’s a post on how to take charge of your creative life. There is plenty to like in the posts below.

User Experience: 6 Author Website Mistakes to Avoid from BookWorks and by Tyler Doornbos: “In more than a decade of making websites, first as a freelance designer/developer for small businesses and individuals, and later as a principal of a design firm, I’ve reviewed a lot of sites. The truth is, that even when they come from professional designers and cutting-edge developers, many sites share the same basic user experience issues. This post will teach you how to avoid the most common mistakes on your author website so that you can outperform the competition.”

Take Charge of Your Creative Life: The SWOT Analysis from Jane Friedman’s blog and by Dave Chesson: “Do you ever feel like you’re swimming against the tide in your creative life? As authors, we have a vast array of ways to spend our time. Time is our only non-renewable resource. Given how precious it is, are you truly making the most of yours? Without a properly calibrated creative compass, it’s easy to spend time on urgent, rather than important, activities. One way to regain control and peace of mind as an author is the SWOT framework.”

21 Signs Your Self-Published Book Could Turn A Profit from Self-Publishing Relief: “Most self-published authors hope to publish a book (or books!) that will make some money. But while some indie books become popular with book-buying readers, other books struggle to break out beyond an audience of friends and family. How do you know if your self-published book could turn a profit? The experts at Self-Publishing Relief share which factors may play a part in your indie book’s sales forecast.”

In today’s Indie Author Weekly Update, hands down the best post to read is David Gaughran’s post on how to sell books. It’s awesome.

Is it too early for a picture of fall? I didn’t think it was. Although the days are still warm in Northern California where I live, the afternoons cool down quickly and the nights are chilly. There’s definitely a change coming.

10 Ways to Build Traffic to Your Author Website or Blog by Jane Friedman: First things first: an author’s website, whether it gets much traffic or not, is foundational to your career. It offers readers as well as the media the official word on who you are and the work you produce. If you blog, then it can also be a way for the public to engage with you. But mainly author websites help you shape the story surrounding your work—and ought to be found when readers go searching for you. It allows you to focus people’s attention and interest to what’s important to you—as opposed to what other sites might think is important.

Marketing Uncovered: How To Sell Books by David Gaughran: “Marketing is more complicated than ever, but the tools we have for reaching readers are fantastic these days, and the rewards for reaching the summit of Mount Discovery are simply immense. Even worth this long-ass intro I’m about to drop! Sometimes we forget. I hear people complaining that things are down across the board and Amazon is squeezing the margin out of everyone, or that the Golden Era is over.”

How to Reach Forgotten Markets for Self-Published Books by the Alliance of Independent Authors: “Looking at the indie publishing community these days, it seems authors can be split in two groups: the “going wide” group, and the others who prefer betting on one outlet (the most relevant) for their book. Anne-Catherine de Fombelle, Chief Globalization Officer for self-publishing aggregator StreetLib, a valued ALLI Partner Member, probes the concept of “the forgotten markets” that can be reached by going wide.”

Welcome to today’s Indie Author Weekly Update. If you’re interested in starting a Facebook Group, and if you write fiction you should be, be certain to read Blogging Wizard’s post this week. As always, Gil Andrews, Dave Chesson, and Anne R. Allen can always be counted on for some killer material.

And enjoy your weekend!

10 Tips to Protect your Creative Writer Self in the Marketplace: “The biggest obstacle many new writers face in making the leap from beginning writer to professional author is accepting that publishing is a business. Newbie writers have often taken creative writing courses or read books that urge them to “just be yourself”, “be creative: there are no rules”, and “a book should be as long as it takes to tell the story.”

16 Promotion Strategies To Grow Your Facebook Group 3x Faster from Blogging Wizard: “You’ve just created your first Facebook group. You expected like-minded people to flock to your group as soon as you put the finishing touches on it. You have a beautiful cover photo, you’ve set your group rules, and it’s looking pretty snazzy. You’ve done everything right. But still, nothing. Absolute crickets. No rush of people eager to join your community. You’re beginning to wonder why you bothered to go to all this effort, to begin with. After all, a Facebook group is useless if it’s not full of engaged members who fit your target market.”

The Surprisingly Simple Solution to Improving Book Exposure by Belinda Griffin: “This is the second in a series of three blog posts I’m writing to break down the top 3 book marketing challenges as revealed by my Book Marketing Frustrations Survey. In the first post, I explained that successful authors focus on readers for better results. This time I’m going to show you how to deal with the problem of not getting enough book exposure.”

Facebook in the News

Facebook rewrites Terms of Service, clarifying device data collection from TechCrunch: “Facebook is spelling out in plain English how it collects and uses your data in rewritten versions of its Terms of Service and Data Use Policy, though it’s not asking for new rights to collect and use your data or changing any of your old privacy settings.The public has seven days to comment on the changes (though Facebook doesn’t promise to adapt or even respond to the feedback) before Facebook will ask all users to consent to the first set of new rules in three years.”

Quote of the Week

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Today’s Indie Author Weekly Update focuses on book marketing strategies. If there’s only two posts you have time to read, be sure to read Gill Andrews’s post on author websites, and then read the post by Joel Friedlander on why your book might not be selling.

Have a great weekend!

15 Reasons Why Your Book Isn’t Selling by Joel Friedman: “We’ve all been there: a book we were excited about, one that we worked on earnestly. But when it hit the market, all that came back was a big yawn. No author wants to be in that situation, most of all a self-published author. We gamble our own time, money, and commitment to our books, and we really need a positive response sometimes just to keep going. But there it is: your baby isn’t selling.”

Five Things You Need As You Begin A Career As A Self-Published Author from BookBaby: “The most important part of being a writer is writing, but if you want a career as a self-published author, you have to do a whole lot more than just write: you have to learn the business of writing and market yourself in a way that puts you on the same playing field as mainstream authors with big publishing houses behind them.”

Book Marketing 101: Need to Sell More Books? This Is How! by Dave Chesson: “Book marketing is an extremely important part of a self-publisher’s success. But it can also be confusing. That’s why I’ve broken down the process into 3 phases and given you a guide for each step. Honestly, if I were to write a complete book on Modern Online Book Marketing, this would be EXACTLY IT. So, enjoy it for free.”

8 Tips to Get Great Amazon Book Reviews by Lisa Tener: “One strategy that can help catapult your book to page one on Amazon results are your Amazon book reviews. Of course, your book needs to be categorized well on Amazon (with the right keywords and categories). It needs to be well-written, too! But after these “givens” reviews rock.”

Quote of the Week

Author of this blog: Frances Caballo is an author and social media strategist and manager for writers. She’s a regular speaker at the San Francisco Writers Conference. In addition, she’s a contributing writer at TheBookDesigner.com. She’s written several social media books including the 2nd edition of Social Media Just for Writers and The Author’s Guide to Goodreads. Her focus is on helping authors surmount the barriers that keep them from flourishing online, building their platform, finding new readers, and selling more books. Her clients include authors of every genre and writers’ conferences. Not sure how you’re doing online? Sign up for my free email course.

Practical tips for marketing your books on the social web

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